The Portland daily press., 1887-02-05
THE GREAT STRIKE.
Slight Improvement In the Condition
Of Affairs In New York.
Work on the Steamer Piers Done by
Green Hands.
Belief That the Coal Trade is Work
ing Into Normal Channels.

NEW YORK, Feb. 4.-There was slight
improvement in the condition of affairs on
the river front this morning. The steamship
companies, slowly recovering from the stag
nation which the strike at first caused, are
moving freight with more despatch than on
any of the past four or five days. Nowhere
is this more noticeable than ON the East Riv-
er front. Steamers are sailing on their reg
ular Gays, and the freight lines are once more
receiving and delivering goods.
In most cases the work on the steamer
piers Is done by green men, and on the
freight lines by the deck hands Of the freight
boats. Tramp steamers are discharged and
loaded by their own crews, assisted by ltali-
an or other n0n-union lab0rers. The Ward
line steamer Cienfuegos sailed today with a
full cargo, slowed away by green hands. 1t
is not considered that there will be any dan
| ger to the vessel arising from the shifting of
the cargo, as the work was done under the
| supervision of an old fireman.
| Steamer Niagara is being loaded today, and
will be ready to sail on time tomorrow.
| There are about 200 old hands at work on
this dock. They were given an advance Of
| 40 cents for days work.
| AT the Bristol line dock, the steamer Mar
| wick was discharging with her own crew
and fifty Italians. The regular men did not
The Alamo of the Mallory line, is still un-
| loaded. An effort will be made to get her
| cargo in by tomorrow. The City of Antonio
and the Lampasas are also docked, waiting
| to be discharged. There are big piles of
freight on the pier and a long line of trucks
| outside
Very little freight is offered at the Hart
ford freight line, but there was plenty of
work for green hands to. do to reduce the
stock of freight outside the dock on the
street.
At the New Haven line, pier 26 there were
many colored men at work today. They
were mostly deck hands.
The Bridgeport Company, at Pier 80, had
all the freight it could handle. The freight
handlers are all regular men and paid high
wages. No trouble has occurred or is antici-
| pated.
A delegation of the striking freight hand
Railroad freight depot at midnight, and in
duced % brakemen to quit work. Others
were expected to quit today.
At the headquarters of the Ocean AssOci-
alton today, it was said that Smith and Nc
| Neil had agreed to supply quantity of pro-
visions for families of strikers, and that
many landlords had agreed not to press
them for rent: Supplies were also offered by
butchers and bakers
The caulkers and joiners at work repair
ing the Guyandotte, the Old Dominion
steamer that was damaged by the explosion
of an internal machine, struck today. They
had no grievance, but struck out of sympa-
thy with the freight handlers Their places
|
The coopers employed along the piers with
the millwrights, joined the strike today. The
painters and mechanics on the Guon line
Struck today. The Italians who took the
places of the strikers at the Hudson River
depot, quit work this afternoon. The Old
Dominion people experience great difficulty
in loading. They cannot tell when the Guy.
andotte or any other vessel will be ready to
sail The El Paso, of the Morgan line, il
laid up at the pier. The Lehigh Valley Com.
pany closed the pier gates at o'clock, and
the Pennsylvania and Jersey Central, and in
fact all of the other piers along the river
fronts had the same blockade and difficulty
in moving freight.
T. l.. Greene, secretary of the Merchants
Committee, says the report that all business
in New York is stopped on account Of the
strike, is absurd. Inquiry among the lead
ing houses shows that by little care and en-
ergy the firms are shipping out all their or.
ders. Mr. Greene says the merchants may
send their orders to New York with certain
ty that they will be filled and despatched
with reasonable promptltude.
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 4.-The Inquirer to
morrow will say: ''The coal trade is gradu
ally working into its normal condition
though there will be more or less disturbance
until labor troubles atNew York are ended.